The wooden tall ship Bounty set sail toward Hurricane Sandy with an unknown amount of rot in its frame despite warnings from a shipwright that had recently worked on the boat, according to testimony heard Wednesday.

Todd Kosakowski, a project manager at Boothbay Harbor Shipyard in Maine, said the rot was found when replacing two interior planks the Bounty crew targeted for repair.

He testified on the second day of a Coast Guard hearing in Portsmouth into the Oct. 29 sinking of the Bounty during the hurricane, about 90 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras. The Bounty’s captain, Robin Walbridge, was never found. Another crew member died.

Kosakowski said that while the ship was in the yard in September and October, he informed Walbridge about the framing damage. Walbridge, he said, decided he would have it fixed the next time the Bounty was hauled out.

"I told him I was more than worried about what we found and voiced my concerns a couple of different times," he said.

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Captain Robin Walbridge (in green sweatshirt)aboard the BOUNTY during its visit to Gloucester in September. Mr. Walbridge, who was 63 years old and captain of the Bounty for 17 years, was presumed lost when the Bounty sank during Hurricane Sandy. Also dead was crew member Claudane Christian, said to be a descendent of Fletcher Christian, leader of the famous mutiny aboard the original Bounty in April, 1789.

At first, I couldn’t sleep on the ship. At night, bunked beneath the waterline, I put my hand against the wooden hull and imagined dark water on the other side pressing back. I lay awake holding my breath, picturing the route I would swim through a maze of cabins and hatches if the ship went down. In port, Bounty had looked tremendous: one hundred and eighty feet long, three masts stretching a hundred feet into the sky, and a thousand square yards of canvas sails. But underway, with ocean spreading toward horizon in every direction, she was small, and inside her I was even smaller.

I had lost my job and my marriage when I saw Bounty for the first time. I wanted to stowaway, cast off, and leave the ruins of my life behind—and Bounty let me. Yet I left far more than grief on land; what mattered at home—education, achievements, appearance—was irrelevant at sea. It was unsettling to abandon all that I thought defined me. I sat in the galley with the other deckhands and wondered what they understood from my face. I was uncertain of what remained.

To leave the shore required surrender; I had to give myself over to the ship and the journey, wherever it led and whatever it revealed. I fell into the rhythms of standing watch and eating meals. Soon even the ship’s deep rolls and strange music of creaking timbers became familiar. I learned lines and sails, practiced emergency drills, and studied the compass and charts; I tarred, painted, spliced, caulked, and I finally slept. I slept deeply, trusting when I closed my eyes others were awake, on watch, keeping me safe, just as I had done for them. We were profoundly dependent on each other.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING OUT TO SEA ON THIS BOAT WHEN THEY’VE BEEN FORCASTING THIS STORM FOR OVER A WEEK?”

Seventeen people aboard a replica of the HMS Bounty abandoned ship early Monday while stranded at sea off the North Carolina coast, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a press release.

"The 17 person crew donned cold water survival suits and life jackets before launching in two 25-man lifeboats with canopies," the Coast Guard said in a statement.

The ship issued a distress signal late Sunday and was taking on water, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

The owner of the 180-foot, three mast ship — which was built for the 1962 Marlon Brando movie, "Mutiny on the Bounty" — lost communication with the crew and alerted the Coast Guard to the situation.

Here she is when she arrived in Gloucester Last Summer-

UPDATE: Coast Guard responds to vessel in distress 160 miles from hurricane’s center

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard has received word that the crew of the HMS Bounty has abandoned ship approximately 90 miles southeast of Hatteras N.C., Monday.

The 17 person crew donned cold water survival suits and lifejackets before launching in two 25-man lifeboats with canopies.

The Coast Guard continues to monitor the situation and assess the weather conditions to determine the soonest Coast Guard aircraft or surface assets can be on scene to conduct effective rescue operations.

Coast Guard Sector North Carolina initially received a call from the owner of the 180-foot, three mast tall ship, HMS Bounty, saying she had lost communication with the vessel’s crew late Sunday evening.

The Coast Guard 5th District command center in Portsmouth subsequently received a signal from the emergency position indicating radio beacon registered to the Bounty, confirming the distress and position. An air crew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City launched aboard an HC-130 Hercules aircraft, which later arrived on scene and reestablished communications with the Bounty’s crew. The vessel was reportedly taking on water and was without propulsion. On scene weather is reported to be 40 mph winds and 18-foot seas.

HMS Bounty…at one with the sea…global voyager…movie star…dedicated to preserving the fine art of square-rigged sailing.

The HMS Bounty is one of the most famous ships in the world. Known for the storied mutiny that took place in Tahiti in 1789 on board the British transport vessel, the current Bounty, a replica, has survived to tell the tale. Built for the 1962 movie “Mutiny on the Bounty” with Marlon Brando, HMS Bounty sails the country offering dockside tours in which one can learn about the history and details of sailing vessels from a lost and romanticized time in maritime history. Since her debut in “Mutiny on the Bounty”, HMS Bounty has appeared in many documentaries and featured films such as the Edinburgh Trader in Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Mans Chest with Johnny Depp.

HMS Bounty To Offer Dockside Tours During Schooner Festival

Tracie Simonin writes-

While in Gloucester we will be opening to the public for dockside tours of the ship during the Gloucester Schooner Festival. The cost will be $10 per adult, $5 per child and seniors and children under 5 are free. We pride ourselves on bringing the ship to new places and sharing the story of the Mutiny on the Bounty and what it is like to sail a traditional square rigged vessel from the 1780’s. Although we are not a schooner, we were anxious to be a part of the schooner festival that weekend and share the Bounty with the town of Gloucester!

We would love it if you could share this info on your blog site. In the meantime, feel free to link to our website where we too have a wonderful blog that could get people excited about reading first hand from a crew member her experiences with sailing with the ship this summer. Our link is www.tallshipbounty.org.

As a longtime reader and friend of the blog, I know you are heavily into community service.

Each year, the members of Sandy Bay Engine Company 1 of the Rockport Fire Department raise money for a scholarship to honor the memory of one of our former officers, the late Fire Lieutenant Sheldon Knowles. Sheldon passed on many years ago, way too young, from the ravages of cancer but is still remembered by our department as a firefighter/EMT who served the town with a pride and a commitment to which we all aspire.

This year, the Engine Company is once again sponsoring a harbor cruise fundraiser on Cape Ann Whale Watch’s Hurricane II. I was hoping you could post the attached flyer on the blog to assist us with this.

Thanks very much for your help and for doing such a great job in promoting what’s truly the experience of living on Cape Ann .

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Free GMG Gloucester Sticker

As long as supplies last if any GMG folks want a bumper sticker but can't drop down the dock, just send a self addressed and stamped envelope longer then 7 and a half inches and I'll drop one in the mail for you.

Send the self addressed and stamped envelope to the dock at 95 East Main St Gloucester Ma 01930 care of Joey (put my name in big letters to make sure it gets to me)

Free GMG Gloucester Sticker

As long as supplies last if any GMG folks want a bumper sticker but can't drop down the dock, just send a self addressed and stamped envelope longer then 7 and a half inches and I'll drop one in the mail for you.

Send the self addressed and stamped envelope to the dock at 95 East Main St Gloucester Ma 01930 care of Joey (put my name in big letters to make sure it gets to me)